Chapter Eight
"The One Where Kagome Pretends to be Humpty Dumpty"
He'd been serious when he'd said that it was a little intimidating. It was actually a lot intimidating.
She hadn't been paying attention to what floor they were on or how many there were, but it was clearly the top floor, and his apartment must've covered the entire thing.
"Yeah, so," Inuyasha interrupted her staring. "This is it."
Kagome couldn't stop her mouth if she wanted to, and she'd really, really wanted to.
"Are you some sort of drug lord king pin or something?"
Sweet Lord, this man's kitchen was the size of her entire apartment!
Was it weird that she was practically salivating at seeing just how big his closet was?
"Don't be stupid," he muttered, stepping away from her. He was staring off to the side, scowling at the floor like it offended him.
"What do you mean? You just said that you worked with technology. You could be like Walter White for all I know!"
"Seriously?" He glared at her this time.
"Uh, yeah, why are you looking at me like that?"
"What's my name, Kagome?" He sighed, already looking defeated.
"Inuyasha," she answered.
"And my last name?" Now, his ears drooped slightly.
"Taisho, I think?" She'd been drunk when they'd talked about it, but she felt fairly certain that was it.
He looked at her expectantly, and she could only stare at him.
"And is that supposed to mean something?"
"Did you seriously not google me?" He frowned at her.
"I don't usually google people, so no."
His head tilted back as he let out a small groan of frustration, and she could only marvel at the muscular column of his throat and the clear firmness of his chest and shoulders under his t-shirt.
Even frustrated beyond measure, the man was still ridiculously hot.
"Did you seriously just come to my house not knowing who I was?"
"Why? Are you some kind of weird sexual predator?"
"What? No!" He recoiled from her question with a disgusted look on his face.
"Then why is it a big deal that I didn't look you up? You're friends with Miroku, that should count for something."
"You've met Miroku. That should count for nothing."
Kagome laughed because he wasn't exactly wrong. Just knowing how Miroku was before he fell in love with Sango should've made her question his morals immediately.
But there was just something about him that made her want to know more. He was such a—a—mystery? Enigma? Some other fancy word that she couldn't think of at the moment?
"So, where should we start?" She asked, walking over to set the container of cookies on his counter. He'd padded after her, taking the lid off and immediately eating one of her cookies, downing the thing in an entire bite.
"Hey! Slow down. It's not like they're going to run away!" He ate another in the same way with a devilish grin on his face. She cleared her throat, fighting the blush on her face.
"Worried?" He asked.
"It would look bad if I leave here and you're found dead days later."
"Wow," he mused, licking his fingers. "You wouldn't even try to save me. Some friend you are."
She smacked his shoulder, still fighting her flush.
"I would tell them you died from eating like a pig. And if it makes you feel better, I'd call Miroku. He'd be more than happy to give you mouth-to-mouth."
Inuyasha choked on his bite, and she smacked him between the shoulders a few times until he cleared his throat.
"You okay?" She asked, and he nodded.
"You can't ever mention that to him, not sober anyway. He would purposefully choke me just to try it, and see if he could get away with it."
At this, Kagome laughed, stepping away from him and further into the kitchen. She let her fingers drag along the stone countertop. Solid black granite or some similar kind of stone, and white cabinets made the entire thing seem larger and clean.
Not like the varying shades of mismatched wood cabinetry that adorned her apartment. She was pretty sure one of them was just raw wood.
He had a double oven, and a six burner gas stove, and a pantry—oh good Lord, what she would do for a pantry!
"Okay, so where do you want me to start? Cleaning? Putting things away?"
"Yeah, I guess. There's a box of dishes over here." He moved towards a stack of boxes in front of one of the cabinets. "I started separating them into the rooms they go in, but I'm pretty sure that I missed a few for the kitchen."
He picked up a box, and set it on a counter for her, and started to walk away when she snagged his shirt, giving her a strange look when turned to look at her.
"I'm not tall enough," she said, pointing to the box that was currently taller than she was.
"Oh, sorry," he quickly lowered the box to the ground for her. "Sorry," he said again, ears flattening back against his hair.
"Don't worry about it. I've come to finally accept my shortness, you know," she said with a laugh, only to see Inuyasha stand upright and look down at her.
"Huh, I never really noticed it before," he said, tilting his head slightly, and Kagome became very aware that she was under some sort of scrutiny, but she couldn't really figure out what or what for.
"Heels help," she said quietly, and he suddenly nodded and turned away.
"I'll—uh—get to work—over here." He cleared his throat and started shifting boxes.
Kagome blinked, watching him leave, and then squatted to start opening the box.
She started unwrapping the plates and bowls and whatever else there was, stacking them on the counter before moving them to the sink to wash before putting them away.
Except there was no dish soap.
"Hey, do you have some dish soap?" She called.
"Uh, no?" He said after a moment. "Just put in the cabinet. It'll be fine." He peeked out from around a stack of boxes.
"I'm not putting them in the cabinet! They're dirty!" She held up on the plate on top. "Look! This one has a fingerprint on it."
"Okay, fine!" He groaned. "You want to stay here for a bit? I'll run out and grab a few things for you."
"I can go," she started, but he waved her off almost immediately.
"It's not like I won't need it eventually," he said with a shrug, before pausing mid-step. "Uh, have you—I mean, I could—pick something up—if you haven't eaten lunch?"
"I haven't eaten," she said, and his shoulders relaxed a little. "I have some cash."
He waved her off again.
"I can pay for a meal! I'm already sending you off for dish soap."
"Whatever, you're helping me unpack. Consider it payment for services rendered." He grabbed his keys off the counter.
"It's just lunch, dog boy," she commented, and he froze again. His face as bright red as she thought it could possibly get.
"Fuck! I didn't mean—It wasn't—I'm not—You're—" His rambling speech eventually just petered out in a an unintelligible noise that was possibly a whine.
"It was a joke!" She said, waving her hands in front of her as she laughed at his reaction. "I didn't mean to upset you so much!"
"I—," he cleared his throat. "I wasn't upset about it!" He snatched his keys off the counter, stalking off towards the front door. "I'll be back in a few!"
"I'll be here," she called after him, and he paused with the door open, looking at her for a moment, before shutting the door behind him.
This was weird, right?
Like he just willingly left her in his apartment to go buy cleaning supplies, and he was trusting her so much to not go digging around his place. Who did that?
So, she was going to carefully unpack each little thing and make sure that nothing broke when she removed it.
She wasn't going to misplace his trust in her. She was going to prove to him that she was worth keeping around, even if it was as a friend.
She'd stacked a series of dishes from almost four full boxes before he returned.
The door swung open, and she leaned over just enough to see him walking in carrying an armful of bags and kick the door closed behind him.
"Why didn't you call? I would've met you downstairs to help." She rushed over to help relieve him of some of the weight, and he shooed her off, refusing to let her assist him.
"It ain't like it's heavy," he said, moving past her to set everything on the counter. She could smell something coming from the paper sack, and it smelled delicious. She moved beside him as he spread out the food on the counter. Several little Chinese food containers later, he pulled out a small pack of water, setting it on the counter.
"So what's the plan?" She asked, watching as he hopped up on the counter, letting his legs dangle off the side. She grabbed the edge of the counter, and heaved herself up on the counter with much less grace than he did. But he was already digging through containers, completely preoccupied, before handing her one. She took it, picking up a pair of chopsticks and digging into her noodles.
"Eat some of this," Inuyasha said, nudging another container towards her. "And this," he continued. He twisted and reached back behind him, grabbing a bottle of water and handing it to her.
"Thanks," she said. "This is a lot of food."
"Eat as much as you want," he said, nudging another container towards her.
"Thanks," she said, plucking a piece of sweet and sour chicken from the container.
She swirled her noodles around in her box. The silence was starting to feel awkward and tense.
"So are you excited to be back in the city?" She asked him, trying to drum up some sort of conversation between them.
"It's just a city," he answered with a shrug.
"Yeah, but it's new! And look at this place! It's huge! I'd kill to have your kitchen, you know."
"You like it?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.
"Of course I do, I mean, look at it!" She shifted to look back at it. "It's gorgeous and you have space. Mine is barely big enough to fit one person. You can't even open the oven door all the way."
"Yeah, my last place was pretty small too," Inuyasha added. "It had a bedroom, and then another room that held the kitchen and living room."
"Are you going to miss it?" She asked him, and he shook his head.
"Neighbors were assholes. The view was nice though."
"Well, I hope that you like the view here too," she said with a grin.
"Yeah," he said after a breath. "I think I do."
Kagome cleared her throat, looking down into her box to eat the last of her noodles in order to hide the blush on her cheeks.
"Well," she set the noodles down on the counter, stealing another piece of chicken, "I'm going to get to work. Where's the dish soap?"
"Would you stop and eat food?"
"I ate food!" She argued, reaching behind him for the bags of stuff. He pushed them farther back on the counter and out of her reach.
"Not enough!" He countered, as she continued to reach for them. He twisted around and stuck his leg out, blocking her path even more and then using said leg to sweep her back towards the food.
"Inuyasha," she whined as he pinned her to the counter.
"Eat," he ordered, pointing his chopsticks at the open boxes as he picked up another one.
"You slave driver," she muttered, picking up another box of veggies and chicken and picking a few bites out of it.
He scoffed at her as he continued to eat out of his own box.
"You know, I eat plenty," she countered as she continued to nibble, leaning her hip against the island.
He scoffed again, before nudging her thigh with his foot. She set the box down.
"Okay, I honestly couldn't eat another bite," she pushed away from the island and moved towards the bags he'd shoved behind him. "Are you going to let me work now?" He reached over, sliding the bag to the edge of the counter with a grumble.
Kagome dug out the bottle of dish soap, grinning at him before heading to the sink to begin watching his dishes of the moving dust. She turned on the hot water, plugging the sink, and letting the water run for a bit.
Hot water flowed quickly into the sink, and for a moment, she was envious. Hot water at the drop of a hat. He didn't have to wait minutes for it to heat up.
"You okay?" He asked, suddenly behind her, setting a new package of towels on the counter.
"Yeah, sorry," she answered, squirting dish soap into the sink and watching it begin to foam. She smiled, looking up at him, but his eyes were narrowed, staring at her. "What?" She squeaked out, watching him watch her.
"Nothin'," he answered, after a long beat between them, "let me know if you need anything, okay?" He swallowed. "I'm gonna go work. Over there."
She gave him a nod, and he quickly turned away to start working through his other boxes.
Taking a deep breath, she let the water run a bit more before she shut it off and spread out one of the towels on the counter and began washing.
Kagome cleaned through several boxes, drying and stacking up the dishes on the counter. She worked quietly and diligently as Inuyasha shoved boxes into random places.
"Hey, Inuyasha?" She called, and he appeared in the doorway of one of the rooms.
"Yeah, what'cha need?" He asked, strolling towards her.
Her mind blanked for a moment as he stretched his arms over his head.
"Oh, I was just—what do you want me to do with the dishes? They're clean, but I don't know where they go." She motioned vaguely to the abundance of cabinets that he had—and she was secretly envious of—but he only shrugged.
"Hadn't really thought about it. You choose."
"But it's your kitchen!" She argued.
He shrugged again.
"I trust your judgment," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, making the muscles shift and bulge under his shirt—down girl, she reminded herself.
"But—!"
"Look, it's not like it's permanent. If I don't like it, I'll move it later."
"You're sure?"
"Keh," he scoffed, turning on his heel and waving a hand at her. "It'll be fine, Kagome."
She took a deep breath before looking and planning where things should go.
Plates and silverware should be nearby, and so should glasses.
She wanted to do a good job. She wanted him to be proud of her and to like what she did. She didn't want to be nuisance.
She could do this. She would do this—and then maybe him?
No, bad Kagome—friends first! You've literally known him for a week!
She really needed to get a hold of herself. She was better than this!
She glanced over at Inuyasha, who was moving boxes with ease—okay, maybe she wasn't, but it wasn't like he wasn't making it easy to not ogle him.
She took a deep breath and turned back towards the dishes.
Inuyasha rummaged through his giant pile of shit that he should've just thrown away and bought everything new when he moved. It would've made life a hell of a lot easier. He had half a mind to just burn all of it.
Huffing in frustration, he threw a box halfway across his bedroom hearing it split as it landed. He couldn't stop the groan of frustration from erupting out of his mouth, and the urge to set fire to everything grew.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice edged into the room, and his head snapped towards it. "Everything okay? It sounded like a box fell."
"Oh," his ears drooped. "That was me. I—uh—yeah," he stuttered out, arm raising to scratch the back of his neck.
Kagome merely smiled at him, and he felt himself relaxing as she stepped farther into his room.
"I get it. Moving can be super stressful." She lightly patted his shoulder blade, standing beside him in the narrow space not filled with boxes. "The last time I moved, I was living out of boxes for months."
He frowned.
"Miroku and Sango didn't help?"
"They helped me move, but I didn't want to ask them to help me unpack too. It took us all weekend just to get my stuff in there."
He started to open his mouth, but her hand grabbing his stopped all sound from coming forth.
"Here, come with me and see if you like what I did."
She tugged on his hand, and he followed obediently and without hesitation.
He'd follow her anywhere she wanted him to go.
"Okay, so here's what I was thinking," she started, letting go of his hands. She reached up, opening the cabinet, and his eyes were immediately drawn to the pale skin exposed by her rising t-shirt.
"—and then here," she continued, and his eyes refocused when she turned around to face him, hands motioning to the glasses on the shelves, "is where I put all your glasses. Is that okay? Or do you want me to move them somewhere else?"
"Looks good," he answered having only heard what he was sure was less than half of the conversation.
And honestly, he really didn't care what she'd put stuff, because in a weird way, it felt like she'd put part of herself into his home, and he strangely liked the idea of that.
So he might've been one of those people who liked his desk set up a certain way, but at the same time, the idea of Kagome leaving a piece of herself here—he'd be remiss to say that the idea didn't make him a little happy.
Kagome beamed at him, and he took pride in the fact that he'd made her feel that way.
"Do you want to keep working, or do you want to take a break and go on a walk?"
A walk with Kagome? That sounded heavenly, but it was chilly out for humans. He didn't want her to catch cold all because he wanted to spend time with her.
"It's a little cold outside for you, isn't it?"
She shrugged.
"I have a jacket," she commented.
"How about I show you the balcony?" He offered. It was enough that he could distract himself from the terror that was his home currently, and he could still make sure that she didn't freeze.
"Sounds great!" She cheered, grabbing his hand and tugging him towards the windows. His fingers wrapped around hers, and he guided her to the sliding door.
"This way," he said, dragging her towards him. "You wanna grab a coat or something?" He asked, and she shook her head.
"No, come on, it won't take long. Let's go!"
He pushed the door open, feeling the rush of cold air. He glanced back at Kagome, as he stepped out onto the stone flooring, the cold a sharp contrast to his own floors.
"Oh, wow!" Kagome marveled, rushing to the edge and leaning over to look out at the city below. "It's gorgeous! Look!"
Inuyasha followed her pointed finger as he looked out on the city below. It was just starting to get dark, and slowly the lights came on, illuminating the streets below.
"It is," he breathed, watching her eyes dance around as she grinned at the sight.
"How far does it go? Does it go all the way around? Wait, do you have neighbors?"
"Come on," he said, holding his hand out to her. She eagerly took it before racing forward, jerking him into motion.
"I wanna see the rest!" She laughed, and he jogged with her as they looked out over another part of the city. The city was beautiful no matter which side of the building they were on, and Kagome marveled over it.
Inuyasha, however, found his gaze drawn away from the city and lingering on her face.
"I can't believe that you live here," she murmured, a soft smile crossing her face. "It's like a dream."
"You act like you're never coming back," he mumbled, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. Her cheeks were pinked with the wind and the cold, and Inuyasha frowned.
"What?" She asked, hands coming up to her face. "Is there something wrong with my face?"
"Where did you get that idea?"
"You were just staring, and I thought that I—that there was something, you know, on my face."
He looked out at the city, trying to calm the sudden flush to his cheeks.
Kagome rubbed her arms as a strong gust of wind blew across the balcony.
"Here," Inuyasha said, "let's go back inside." It was too cold for her to be outside without a coat on.
"No," she whined, even though she didn't really resist when he pressed a hand to her back and herded her back towards the door. "It's so pretty."
"You act like you're never going to see it again," he said, rolling his eyes. Because if he had his way, she'd come back way more often than she actually probably wanted to.
A part of him never wanted her to leave, and he made sure that part stayed repressed deep down inside of him. She was willing to help him move in and organize, and that was more than he had before.
She slid the door open, stepping inside and into the subtle warmth of his home.
He closed the door behind him. It was getting late, and he really didn't like the idea of her riding the trains.
"Do you want me to take you home?" He asked, and she shook her head.
"I rode the trains, and they're still running for a few more hours. I think I can finish your kitchen boxes. I mean—that is—if you want me too?"
"Yeah, if you want to?"
She nodded eagerly, grinning at him like he'd just given her something priceless. He honestly felt a little like Tom Sawyer tricking the other kids into painting a fence. He'd have to get her something nice for helping him out.
Which brought up a new problem: what did Kagome like?
Bigger question: what did Kagome need?
"Okay! I'm gonna finish this!" She hurried into the kitchen, opening another box and eagerly stacking his pots and pans on the counter.
He moved to another set of boxes in the living room, trying to sort through whatever he'd deigned to bring with him from the last apartment. He had too much shit.
Seriously, he should've just burned half this shit, and he could be doing things with Kagome instead.
They couldn't do things with boxes piled this high.
Also, the stacks of boxes might've been driving him up the wall. He was ready to be done with unpacking.
He tore open the next box, tearing through the tape with his claws, as he unpacked some random knick-knacks he'd had around the living room.
He glanced up when he heard her softly humming to herself in the kitchen.
Maybe unpacking wasn't so bad. It gave him an excuse to see her at least.
Kagome was so close to being done. She'd gotten everything in the boxes washed, dried, and put away. The only thing left were a few glass baking dishes that hadn't gotten any use. She knew this as fact because the labels were still there. So clearly, he'd never used these ever.
Kagome figured, sticking them up on a top shelf was probably a safe thing, and he probably wouldn't care that they were inconvenient to reach.
Hopping up on the counter, she started placing them on the top shelf, shifting herself across the counter to move to the next cabinet to place the last of the dishes, and she smiled to herself as she leaned back to close the door.
She looked over where Inuyasha was working, prepared to call out to him, and her mouth went dry at the sight of him picking up a box that was obviously heavy based on how his biceps flexed under his t-shirt. He'd dragged his hair up into a loose ponytail at some point, and it only allowed her a better view of his back as he flexed and moved.
Holy shit, no one should be that gorgeous. He could probably lift her with one hand. Her knee slid a little on the counter, and then suddenly she was falling—for him—and for the ground—knocking her head roughly against the tile floor.
Curling her hands around her head, she tried to convince her body to just seep into the floor and disappear entirely because she'd just fallen off a counter because she was ogling a boy—man—whatever.
And he could never ever know.
"Kagome!"
Oh God, he sounded worried. Great job, Kagome.
"Kagome, are you okay?"
Mortification was too gentle a word for what she was currently feeling.
"How bad is it? Lemme see." His hands gently tugged at her arms, trying to pull them away from her face.
"I'm okay," she mumbled, still hoping that her body just gave in and became a puddle of goo that was viscous enough to seep through the cracks in his tile, but there probably were no cracks in his floor because he lived in a nice building and not some place that was probably one incident away from being condemned.
She pushed herself up to a sitting position, and clawed hands gently helped her.
"Take it easy," he warned.
"I'm okay, really," Kagome responded. "Pretty sure the only thing hurt is my pride."
"You're sure?" He asked, and the moment she nodded, he looked relieved.
Great, now she'd worried the guy she'd literally fallen off a counter for.
"I'm fine, just a klutz."
She wasn't going to tell him that she had a headache from whacking her head into his tile.
"You hit pretty hard," he commented, a slight frown crossing his face as his fingers came up to touch the side of her head.
"I'm pretty hard-headed, so your floor's probably in more danger of cracking than I am."
"How about I drive you home?"
"Oh, no!" She waved her hands in front of her to dismiss the suggestion. "I couldn't! You have so much to do, and—" His hand grabbing hers stopped her from speaking and ended all train of coherent thought in her brain. It was like the stupid thing had flat-lined completely.
Best she could do was some weird squeaking sound.
"It would make me feel better knowing that you got home safe. It's honestly the least you could do, especially after you nearly broke my new floor with that head of yours."
"Rude," she muttered, and he grinned, rising to his feet only to lean over her slightly and hold his hands out. She took them, feeling how careful he was with his claws as he helped her up.
Feeling a twinge in her hip, there would probably be a decent bruise there, especially if it hurt already.
Great. Good job, Kagome.
It was going to take everything she had not to limp out of here.
"Do you want an ice pack?"
She did, but she was not about to ice an ass cheek in his very fancy car.
"No, I'm okay."
"You're sure?"
She nodded, but he didn't look entirely convinced.
"Yeah, I'm positive."
"Alright, lemme grab my keys." He let go of her hands, taking a step back before he turned and strolled into his bedroom.
Yeah, she might have to take some aspirin or ibuprofen to ease some of the ache. She'd be lucky if she didn't wake up with a headache tomorrow.
First things first, focus on not walking with a limp in front of the handsome asshole that had completely consumed her thoughts for the past week.
"You sure you're alright?" He asked. "I can call someone and have her take a look—"
"No!" Kagome said, waving her hands in front of herself to dismiss the offer. "No, it's fine. I'm fine!"
He raised an eyebrow at her insistence.
"Really, I'm fine," she repeated quietly, trying to reassure him that she was fine. And that she definitely didn't need anyone taking a look at her ass in the apartment of a guy whom she actually wanted to look at her ass.
Kagome took a small step forward, testing if her leg would hold her without immense pain. She had zero intentions of falling on her face twice in the same hour in front of a guy like Inuyasha. She just wanted him to like her and here she was being her usual hot mess of a self.
Her leg held, and so she kept walking at what she hoped was a normal walking speed.
"You're sure you're okay?" Inuyasha asked as they entered the elevator.
"I'm sure," she chirped as he pushed the button for the garage. Well, she hoped it was the garage, because walking was a little on the painful side, and she didn't know how much more she'd be able to do without giving up the ghost.
She leaned heavily on the side of the elevator, and when he turned to look at her, she gave him a smile. She could tell that he wanted to ask her a question, and she had a feeling that it was about her falling off the counter.
The only real benefit to having a concussion would be the possibility that she might fall asleep and lose her memory of committing that sin in the first place.
The elevator doors opened revealing that they were, in fact, at the garage level, and he motioned for her to go first.
What a gentleman—the asshole.
She took a few small steps forward, just enough to exit the elevator and wait for him.
"This way," he said, motioning to the slight downhill slope where she saw a somewhat familiar white car.
She'd thought that downhill would be easier, but she was—unfortunately—wrong yet again. Kagome pushed herself down the small hill, sternly commanding her body to not fall down or give out under the strain of moving normally. Inuyasha moved towards the car, opening her door for her.
She more or less sort of gracefully flopped down into the seat, taking a deep breath and exhaling the moment the door shut.
At this rate, she was definitely going to have to ice her hip. Not to mention that she wasn't exactly sure how she was going to manage to make it up all those stairs.
And what if he wanted to walk her up?
The horror!
Like, here, I know you live at some super swanky place, but please, by all means, come into my tiny ass apartment that's probably smaller than your closet and currently has a love-hate—mostly hate— relationship with hot water.
And if her neighbor had someone over . . .
Well, you had a good run while it lasted Higurashi.
She tried not to jump when he shut his door, he started the engine and the car rumbled lightly underneath her.
"You're sure you don't need to go see someone?"
"Positive. I mean, you really don't even have to take me home. I can take the train."
"Right, because I'm going to let someone with a head injury go ride the train—by themselves—at night."
"I do not have a head injury," she huffed, poking his arm as he backed out of his spot.
"Sure, just remember to not sleep for more than a couple hours at a time, okay?"
"You know that's a myth, right?"
"Oh, so now you're the doctor?" He asked her, pulling out onto the main thoroughfare in front of his building. "So where am I going?"
"Head to the highway, and then go left when it splits."
"So north?"
"I don't know. Is that left?"
"How do you not know what direction north is?"
"Excuse me for not having an instinctual sense of direction. I'm only human," she scoffed.
"It's not a youkai thing! Everyone can tell what direction north is."
"At the end of the day, the only thing I need to know is if I am turning towards the WacDonald's or away from it."
He rubbed a hand across his face as they sat at the stoplight.
"You're impossible."
"Me?" She feigned insult at his statement. "I have survived navigating this city for years without having to know the four cardinal directions."
"I honestly don't know how."
He took off at the green light, speeding off towards the highway entrance ramp, veering to the left as he did so.
"So we're heading north—"
"Left," she corrected.
"North," he countered, "so now what?"
"Uh, go straight for a little while—fifteen minutes or so, I guess, and then exit when you see the WacDonald's sign."
There was a long pause before he spoke, and the irritation rolling off of him was a near tangible thing.
"And what exit is that exactly?"
"The one with the WacDonald's sign?"
He deadpanned a look at her for a solid second before returning his gaze to the road, making her laugh.
"Please tell me that you're just fucking with me and that this is not how you live your life."
She giggled in the seat next to him, as his frustration did nothing but amuse her.
"I'm really sorry!" She offered, still laughing enough that her eyes were beginning to water. "Sango refuses to drive if I'm giving directions."
"And Miroku?"
Kagome shrugged.
"He just sighs a lot and makes me drive."
"I wonder why," Inuyasha muttered, and she reached over, shoving his shoulder. "Hey! No manhandling the driver!"
"Says who?"
"Says fucking everyone in the car! It's a rule!"
"I'm the only one here, and I did not manhandle you!"
"Oh yeah, well what did you just call that maneuver?" He shouted, pointing to his definitely-not-abused shoulder.
"Why're you acting like such a big baby about it?"
"I'm not the one punching people! You're so violent, Kagome." He reached a hand over and rubbed his shoulder. "For that you should come over tomorrow and help me unpack more shit. That's your punishment."
"Oh, so now you want to punish me?" She asked in a low voice, and the red that bloomed across his face shouldn't have been as funny as it was, but the man was so clearly embarrassed, that she couldn't help herself but laugh at him. "I'm so sorry," she cackled.
"You're hilarious, Kagome," he muttered, wiping a hand over his face. "Picking on a guy who volunteered to drive you home. Didn't know you were that cruel."
"You insisted!" She laughed as she glanced out the window. "Stop changing the narrative!"
"I only tell the truth, Kagome," he insisted, holding up his right hand, like that meant anything.
"You're supposed to raise the left hand when you swear!"
"Since when?"
"Since forever?" She stared at her knees, slightly raising each of her hands to figure out which one felt right.
"Your left hand is the one that makes the L," Inuyasha explained, and she glowered at him from the passenger seat, making him laugh at her.
"I know which hand is my left, thank you!" She retorted, "but you raise the left hand when you swear on something."
"Mmm, no," Inuyasha countered, changing lanes.
"Mmm, yes."
"Kagome, you raise your right hand when you swear," he said. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and googled it. "What're you doing?"
"Googling it," she answered.
"Are you serious?" He asked. "You're going to google that but not some guy you just met?"
"What?" She mumbled as she saw in blaring white letters that it was indeed the right hand.
"And?" He asked, glancing over at her phone screen. "What does it say?"
"Nothing," she answered, clicking the lock button on the side.
"It said I was right, didn't it?" He commented with a wry grin.
"Maybe it did and maybe it didn't."
He hummed as he shifted over a lane to the right to go around another car.
"Kagome Higurashi doesn't like to lose, noted."
"I'm not a sore loser!"
"Then what did it say, Kagome?"
She huffed, leaning forward slightly to shove her phone back into her pocket.
"That's what I thought."
"There's the WacDonald's sign," she said, pointing to it. "My exit is the next one."
"Maybe you should take a moment and learn what your exit actually is?" He suggested, merging into the far right hand lane.
"Why? I get by just fine."
"I was thinking of everyone else's sanity, but sure, be selfish."
"When you go over the hump, we're turning right."
"Is this the hump?" He asked.
"No, you'll know it when you see it."
"Let me get this straight, I'll know when we're done humping?"
"Inuyasha!" She swatted him on the shoulder as he let out a loud barking laugh, and she could already feel her face heating up.
"Oh come on, you set yourself up for that one."
"I know!" She groaned. "Doesn't mean that you have to always pick the low hanging fruit though!"
"Fruit is fruit," he commented with a shrug, and she couldn't fault him for that at least. She had set herself up for that, and she should've known better. Really, she should have. She had a younger brother for crying out loud! Anytime that he could make a snide dick joke that slid under her mother's radar, he took it.
She's clearly lost her touch.
"Okay, turn right here," she said, pointing to the road.
"Aw, we're done humping?" Inuyasha said, flicking on his blinker.
"Ha. Ha," she muttered. "You're hilarious." Her face still felt flush, and she really hoped that he was too focused on the road to notice her trying to cover her cheeks.
By the time that he pulled into her parking lot, Kagome was growing steadily more and more mortified.
What was he going to think?
In comparison to his building, hers looked two steps away from being condemned.
Well, maybe one and a half steps.
Some days it felt like it really only needed one big step.
He pulled up into one of the designated guest parking spaces, and she quickly climbed out—she was not about to let him see the inside of her apartment if she could help it.
"Thanks so much for the ride home," she said quickly as he started to climb out of his side of the car. Pain or no pain, she was not going to give him any incentive to follow her.
Not because her apartment was a disaster, because it wasn't.
Was it?
No, she'd put her bras up earlier that morning from where they'd been air drying on her shower rod.
He had freaking stone countertops and hers were the dumb Formica from the 80s. Her cabinetry didn't even match. She was practically poor! Okay, she kinda was poor, but still! A girl could have some pride left in her!
Not to mention walking up the three flights of stairs was going to hurt if the twinging in her hip was any indication.
And for some reason, the idea of him knowing that she couldn't ride the elevator because her card never worked was just embarrassing.
But her luck was improving, because she could hear the metallic sound of the elevator coming down the shaft, and maybe she could just block the door so that he didn't have to know.
"You in a rush?" He asked.
"No!" She squeaked, hearing the machinery groan to a stop. "I mean, no, of course not," she repeated in a less urgent tone.
He raised an eyebrow as he stood in front of her. The doors binged, and his eyes darted to the doors behind her as they opened.
She recognized that look the moment Yura opened her mouth behind her.
"Oh, look what we have here," she drawled, and Kagome already felt herself shrinking.
The minute she saw his eyes widening as he stared at whatever provocative thing her neighbor was wearing for her night out on the town, and she could only hope that what happened in the city stayed in the city and didn't come home with her.
She knew that look though. She'd lost. She'd seen the same look on Kouga when a pretty girl walked by, someone prettier than her at least—which was apparently everyone—and then he'd space out until the sight was gone.
And that had been before everything had gone to shit.
Kagome stepped back into the open doorway of the elevator.
"You're a sight, aren't you?" Yura shifted so that she drew his attention to her skirt that barely covered her ass; Kagome had walked out once seeing a crescent moon of butt cheek from one of her outfits. This one was a bit on the modest side for Yura.
A hand reached up, gently running her fingers through his forelock, twirling it around one of her fingers.
Kagome didn't need to see anymore. She knew that she'd been bested.
"You're a handsome one. I'd let you ride me here and now, or do you prefer to be ridden?" Yura purred, and Kagome stepped back fully into the elevator, pressing the button for her floor, letting out a tired sigh.
It had been nice to think that maybe—maybe—he was into her too, but she'd clearly flown to close to the sun yet again. Maybe one day she'd learn not to think too much of herself because falling hurt.
"Oi, Kagome" Inuyasha called, stepping away from Yura, knocking her hands away from his hair. "Where do you think you're going?" He moved to stand in the doorway as the elevator doors began to close.
"Excuse me, we weren't done talking!" Yura shouted back at him.
"We were done before you stepped off the elevator," he shouted over his shoulder. "Let me walk you to your door?" He asked, and Kagome nodded dumbly, practically gawking at him as he stepped inside.
He moved to stand next to her, and Kagome could see Yura's glare aimed at his back.
She muttered something, and he rolled his eyes at whatever it was—it was too quiet for her hearing—letting out a long sigh. He was stiff, rigid in posture until the doors closed.
"You know her?" Inuyasha asked with a nod of his head towards where Yura had been.
"Yeah, well, kinda. She's my neighbor," she fiddled with the edge of her phone case, still not believing that someone—someone male, at least—had turned down Yura of all people.
Yura!
He'd turned Yura down for her!
He made a face.
"We don't exactly hang out or anything," she muttered still not thrilled that they were still talking about her. If he wanted her number, it wasn't like he couldn't have asked her for it.
"Good," he said, and Kagome wasn't quite sure how to take that. Like good because he didn't want her hanging out with Yura? Or good because that made hooking up with Yura less awkward? "You okay?"
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened before she could answer.
Giving him a nod and a smile, she led him across the walkway to her apartment door. Their footsteps were quiet, but they still echoed in the space.
"Hey," Inuyasha said after a moment. "I—It's not—I'm—I'm not into that kinda thing."
Kagome looked up at his face as they paused in front of her door.
"I just wanted you to know," he mumbled, a flush coming up over his face. "And if you want to get away from—from—that, then you're always welcome at my place."
This time the smile on her face was genuine.
"So is this like carte blanche to come visit whenever I want?" She asked, and his ears twitched as he shrugged, the faint traces of pink still staying on his cheeks.
"Sure," he answered. "I've still got a lot of shit to unpack."
"Rude," she laughed. "Do you want me to come over tomorrow?"
He shook his head.
"Nah, I think you've done enough damage today." He paused. "Maybe Monday? I can buy dinner."
"I can probably swing dinner," she answered with a grin.
"Oi, you have to unpack shit for dinner."
"Oh, so now I have to earn my keep?"
"You're impossible," he sighed.
"At least I'm entertaining," she sang.
"Definitely never a dull moment with you." He grinned.
There was a long pause where neither of them spoke, and Kagome felt something shift between them. He'd offered for her to come visit him on Monday.
That meant something at least.
She started to speak several times, but the words died in her mouth as she stared at him.
"I'll—uh—I'll let you get inside," he said after a long moment. "You're sure you're okay?"
"Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me," she said with a wave of her hand. "Have a good night," she answered, taking a small step towards her door before she did something supremely stupid and irrevocable.
It was tempting though.
She turned sticking her key in the lock and feeling the familiar slide of the bolt. The handle opened easily, letting her step inside.
"Night, Inuyasha," she repeated, and he gave her a smile.
"Night, Kagome," he said with a nod, taking a step back as well.
Closing the door, she locked it, leaning her head against the cool metal. She couldn't help the grin that covered her face.
A/N: Good evening! Happy Saturday!
Just a little note, I know that there's been some talk about how FFN is crashing or disappearing. For those of you concerned, these stories are also posted on Archiveofourown .org and I post under the same username there too. I will continue posting here until the site crashes or no longer lets me update.
I was a little miffed with the Yura section because it didn't feel right. The point I was trying to get across was that Kagome was assuming that Kouga's reactions to things were the norm, even though they shouldn't be considered normal. And then Inuyasha quickly backtracks and shows that SHE is more important to him than some provocative.
Kagome's a little slow on the uptake, but she's getting there.
I hope that you guys enjoyed the update! As always, let me know what you think!